3/3/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University is using a $922,358 grant from the Ohio Board of Regents for technology-related projects that many believe will change the nature of teaching and learning.
Forty-one faculty members are beginning work on 20 Technology Initiative Packages worth $215,000 under the first phase of the grant program. The remaining projects, which will receive $185,000 in funding, are expected to be announced this fall.
The first-round projects involve faculty members from nine colleges and Ohio University's regional campus in Chillicothe. The grant also is being used to establish on the Athens campus a Center for Innovation in Technology for Learning, which will provide technical support for these and other projects that help integrate technology into the educational process.
"This is a major undertaking on the part of the university and it is having a significant impact on the nature of education," said Tom Shostak, dean of lifelong learning and co-director of the project with College of Communication Dean Kathy Krendl. "It is changing the way people teach and the way students learn."
A project Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Eric Steinberg is undertaking with six colleagues is a good example. The project involves incorporating the Internet into a sophomore-level class on statics, which examines the basic principles of engineering mechanics.
Rather than simply take notes during a professor's lecture, students will view a World Wide Web page containing the pertinent material, freeing them up to participate in class discussions. Notes, illustrations and other information can be printed off the Web at any time or from any location with Internet access.
"The opportunity to examine the learning outcomes, as well as the faculty and student evaluations of the various projects, should result in a major research focus at the university," Krendl said. "Most analyses of technology interventions are based on case study approaches of individual courses or programs. We have the unique opportunity to work with faculty and students across a wide array of disciplines through the Center for Innovation in Technology for Learning and the TIPS projects."
Ohio University applied for the technology grant in March 1997 after the Ohio General Assembly approved a one-time allocation of $10 million for higher education technology projects. The Ohio Board of Regents distributed the funds in July. The university is contributing nearly $2.5 million in resources for network improvements, completion of the compressed video system and staff to support training and development efforts.
"As more people turn to computers and the Internet, more instruction is going to have to incorporate this new technology," Shostak said, noting that the new approaches change the roles of faculty members and students. "In those situations, the role of the faculty member becomes more one of a designer of the presentation, the facilitator of discussions and the problem solver." And students have the opportunity to come to class with a higher level of understanding because course information and readings may be available online.
To help faculty find new ways to integrate technology in the courses they teach, a portion of the grant is being used to establish the Center for Innovation in Technology for Learning in the basement of Scott Quad. The center, which Shostak hopes will open this spring, will offer guidance as well as the use of computers, scanners, servers, printers and other equipment faculty can use in developing new approaches to instruction.